Now Koreans are mad, certifial, insane - but only when they're supporting soccer. the rest of the time they're actually quite friendly....if you can understand them. Now it seems after the boys got to the semi finals,1 in 8 koreas took to the streets to celebrate - that's 5m of them. You probably saw on TV, now luckily I wasn't in Seoul that weekend, a bunch of us decided to head out of the city to get away from it. And boy did we. And I'm glad. Apparantly it took hours to just get to the tube let alone get home from city hall. Bizarrely the majority of those people couldn't actually see any one of the big screens set out... I guess it didn't diswade anyone from going.... It was great to go to the SA Spain game, it was an amazing atmosphere, and luckily one ofthe most exciting games of the tournament. Unfortunately the rest of the games have been from the local coverage on cable (approximiately 90% of the local channels!) or in the bars and restaurants which in itself aas been a great experience as the korean's are truely loving this!
I have been here 6/7 weeks (or is it years) now and apart from working what seems to be most hours of the day, most days a week, I can say, with a degree of certainty, that this is one of the weirdest places I've ever been. Now its not from want of trying, as most will know me, I like to give these foreign locations I'm blessed with at least a try, but a few simple things seem to disagree with me. Okay so there is language, culture (which makes the business side of things v. challenging), bad weather, but if you look at the city initially you think its just a rather badly built american city - lots of big wide roads, tall buildings and lots of cars... but of course that's only the first impression.
Lets start with the weather. Now I'm an english bloke, right, so its often something we, as a race, are caught muttering (usually complaining) about, welll here is a slightly different story. There is no point. The smog blocks out the sun, on the rare days when its clear (need wind) you can appreciate being able to see across town (including the telco tower which I swear wasn't there for the first 3 days of my stay). No the real problem are the forecasts. Don't bother. Okay, so there is the language issue, but you need to rely on your fellow seoul inhabitants. It comes down to "rain & umbrellas". For some reason the locals know the weather much better than the fore-casters. So on the occassion where you walk down to the sub-way and you see everyone carrying an umbrella, but the sky is clear (by clear, I'll ellaborate later, clear is a relative term based on the smog level), you can guarantee with much certainty that you'll leave work and it will be poring. And its not like there are a few smart people, but EVERYONE, will have a brolly. Save no-one. Its almost odd, there is no-one not carrying an umbrella. Except one person, the gardner. He has to wear a hat - I mean how else can he tend the plants with a spade and use his mobile at the same time.
Finding places. There are no street numbers in Korea. Well there are, but they are assigned chronologically, based on when each house / building was built on the street. First house on the street equals number 1, 2nd is number 2 etc. This may seem odd, basically yes it is - its bloody absurd, you can't rely on a number to locate anywhere. If you need to find a place you have to rely on a map (most places have them when you look up their address on the net etc, if they don't you're in real trouble). And taxi drivers, well, if you don't speak Korean, or don't have a map, well then you're in BIG trouble.
Diet. Many of my friends of late have suggested that I must be in heaven will all those korean barbeques and vegetables. The problem is the bbqs are basically all the same and the vegetables, well they seem to eat them for breakfast (when they eat it), lunch and dinner. Kimchi (or gimchi), this local delicacy is a Korean tradition. Basically it consists of pickled vegetables with lots of chilli sauce. This was originally done as vegetables weren't around during winter so they'd preserve 'em so they had food all year round. Great, wonderful. The problem is they're obsessed witthe stuff. Every meal, every meal. And I hate the stuff. I hate to not enjoy cultural tradition, and will try anything once, but this is one dish that I just cannot get into. Which is unfortunate. Reduces the amount of edible food at every meal. i've lost weight - something most people who've ever lived on expenses know is hard to do.
Language. Okay, so I don't speak Korean. Believe it or not its actually a simple language to learn to write and speak. However it doesn't help that you still don't understand any of the vocab. So like most of the very limited number of foreign tourists and business folk out here I rely on translations and english signs. The problem is that these are not consistent. The problem is the original english translation used Ps and Gs, but a more recent set of translations now use Bs and Ks (see Kimchi / Gimchi), or is it Ps then Bs.... Anyhow try and imagine maps and books which have 2 english versions. Depends on their age. Especially when you start out it can really ruin any ability to find a place.... especially when there are no street numbers either.
So here you are, hungry, lost and frustrated, so add onto it the work traffic which has to exceed even NY,Tokyo or london. It is Simple a mess. This place is probably worse than anywhere on most occasions. They're obsessed with cars over here and although they have excellent roads it doesn't seem to help them. The funny thng is all cars (almost without exception) have some form of dent, scratch or ding which describes the style of driving. The even better thing is the bus drivers play the same game which makes for an unpleasent but swift journey to work! It has to be said that the trains are excellent here if you're on a suitable line, the next major issue is walking to the station. Apart from the crowds of people you have to worry about bikes and scooters on the pavements!. Ordinarily I don't have a problem with motor bikes etc, but in this country they share both the road AND the pavement. So you see a sign that says 'bike' lane, which supposidly runs along side the walkway, you've really got to think out of the box and think about ALL bikes across all areas that could have pedestrians. They don't care either way, and will use all parts weaving in and out of us lowly people on foot.
So what have I been up to here! Well apart from getting used to the above delights, it does seem like not a lot. I've managed to go to HK which was great fun although exceedlingly expensive to celebrate England beating argentina - that was some party and Lang Quayi Fong is definitely the place to celebrate. I've also managed to pop back to Sydkenee for a weekend which was welcome relief from the seemingly unrelenting heat and humity.... it was actually nice to wear a jumper :-) The rest of the time is the everlasting search for good spots to eat and drink, and it seems to be working. The only problem, and dare I admit it.is that our favourite place is an american bar with some of the greatest food plus they do 'frequent flyer miles', which means we are racking up free bottles of whisky (which we get to keep in our own 'locker' with a name tag) for each return!
So as the rainy season seems to have started (1000mm falls in July out of the 1300 that falls each year), the rest of the day to day seems to plod along. Hoping to get at least one trip to Beijing before the end of the project and there is my sister's graduation to try and get back for but apart from that its just survival! The hong kong stuff seems to have gone off the boil for the moment, so will be soem 'definitive' news on what's next sometime soon.... Oh and of course, how can I forget, we have to sample the local 'dog stew' delicacy....
